Les Bowen

STAFF WRITER

Les Bowen has covered the Eagles since 2002. Before that, he covered the Flyers for 13 years. He came to the Daily News from the Charlotte Observer in May 1983, just as the Sixers were winning the NBA championship. He thought, "Gosh, this sort of thing must happen all the time here."

Eagles defensive coordinator Juan Castillo vowed that things would change and the team would start winning.

“Here’s what I know about the city of Philadelphia, the fans, our owner: we’re going to win, and we’re going to turn this around," he said. "We have the answers, and then when we win, I know they’ll understand.”

Asked why he was so confident, Castillo said, “Because I’ve been through this before. It’s not the first time, and I’ve had success. It doesn’t matter if there is problems because our job is to solve the problems. We’ve started off like this before, and we believe in our plan and we believe in fundamentals. We believe in the way we work, we understand that, and we know that every week we get better, and better, and better. That’s the way it’s happened here before, and we’ve been here 12 years. Our record speaks for us, but now we all want to win the Super Bowl. We believe in what we’re doing, so what we do is we keep working harder and we correct some of our problems.

He said the best thing the defense could do to avoid wearing down in the fourth quarter is get off the field, play fewer snaps.

“We’ll get better and that’s my responsibility," he said. "We’re going through some things, and some of the things I’m taking care of in practice and some other things I have to take care of. Together, as a defensive group, we’re going to take care of things and we’ve been working on them. We know what to do, and we’ll get better.”

* Castillo said last week he had Nnamdi Asomugha in too many packages, and that was the coordinator's fault. He said he gave Asomugha too many things to learn, without the benefit of an offseason. "He's human," Castillo said. He said he had envisioned Asomugha as a versatile weapon like Charles Woodson, but that might be expecting too much so soon. He said he plans to scale back Asomugha's responsibilities this week.

* He said it was a difficult decision to have to cut DT Derek Landri in the preseason, but he is glad Landri returned this week. "He has a big heart," Castillo said.

* Darryl Tapp was a full participant in practice yesterday as he recovers from a strained pectoral muscle. Castillo said Tapp looked good. Tapp agreed that the plan seems to be for him to start this week.

* Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said turnovers and penalties are killing the Eagles in red zone. He also cited third and short, which has been harder than third and medium.

* He said ball security was the Eagles' biggest problem right now, and that is his responsibility.

* He said the Eagles have been able to move the ball in the fourth quarter, just haven't scored.

* Mornhinweg said the Bills rush the passer real well, even if the stats don't show it.

* On Michael Vick's performance against San Francisco, he said, Vick had great numbers but it was not good enough to win.

* Special teams coordinator Bobby April said he was looking forward to returning to Buffalo, calling it a "special place." April worked for the Bills for six years.

* April said rookie kicker Alex Henery, who missed two fourth-quarter field goals against the 49ers, "has gotta get 'em through the uprights. He knows that. That guy has a big job."